Skater pulls for fiance to earn spot

Published 6:30 am, Sunday, January 13, 2002

The former in-line skater from Miami gained a fiance, too, and now she's headed to her second Winter Olympics.

Boutiette is trying to make his third consecutive Olympic team but missed qualifying in the 1,500 meters by one-hundredth of a second at last month's U.S. trials. He finished fifth in the event at the 1998 Olympics.

Boutiette needs a solid showing in the 5,000- and 10,000-meter races at this weekend's World Cup meet in the Netherlands to grab a spot on the Olympic team. Otherwise, he'll be in the stands at the Utah Olympic Oval.

Rodriguez understands the pressure on Boutiette, whom she plans to marry in April.

"If I was dating somebody who wasn't a skater, I don't know that they could totally understand why I do what I do, why I gave up everything in order to train and to skate," she said. "With K.C., it's not even a question. Skating, for us, comes before our relationship even. We just have that mutual understanding."

Elk panic feared

-- Fireworks at the end of the Olympics could spook the moose, elk and deer that live in the Salt Lake City's foothills and drive the animals into urban neighborhoods.

"We just don't want to see 150 elk running around the University of Utah,'' James said. We don't want elk in the medals plaza."

The fireworks make up the grand Olympic finale and would be launched from several places throughout Salt Lake City, including the foothills above the University of Utah.

The problem, James said, is that the foothills are winter feeding grounds for big game.

"It would become a bigger issue if a herd of elk got loose downtown,'' James said. ``A stray moose is something we can address and have addressed, but a herd of 160 elk is entirely a different matter."